Monthly Archives: December 2010

I find that quite hard to do nowadays because the way we (or at least I) consume music has changed drastically over the last few years.

I barely buy CDs anymore, and not much more albums. Yes, there is a difference between the two, because of the possibility of buying individual tracks opened by the likes of iTunes, Beatport and all the other online music stores.

The impact on listmaking is that it becomes hard to draft one that encompasses albums.

So, the following list of my favourites of the past year merely reflects the productions I have come across that made an æsthetic impact on my passion for music.

Without further adue, here they are, in no particular order and with as much useful info as I can convey to you, dear readers.

Blue Steel (Still Going Remix) – Bot’Ox

Bot’Ox, is a French duo composed of Tekel’s Julien Briffaz and Benjamin Boguet, who you might know better as Cosmo Vitelli. Quite a pedigree! As for Still Going, a pair of producer from New York City, they’ve been banging out wicked tunes on DFA for a few years now. Combine all that and what you get on a major dancefloor bomb and you can even download it for free here!

The Professor – Dionigi

I wasn’t even going to include this on my list until just before I started writing this list. I’ve purchased that album and didn’t really give it a thourough listen until today, while I was researching my library for tracks to include on my next Cosmix. While going through all the tracks of the album, I realized that this album by Dionigi is one hell of an album that falls firmly in the Space Disco category while touching to many broader styles, from House to Breaks to Ambient. Yes, Italians can and still do produce good music, if you dig below the surface crap they are also capable of producing… 🙂 Special mention for ugliest album art of the year, or at the very least of this list!

Empire Ants – Gorillaz

Yeah, I could’ve included the whole Plastic Beach album, but this track stands out so much from the rest — and moved me so much — that I chose to include only this one on the list. It also has the added benefit of introducing me to Little Dragon, a band I didn’t know before. I’m madly in love with the second movement of the track, when it gets more electro, and it’s a real shame that it’s so short! Now, a concert is the perfect setting to jam a bit with a song and extend it, but when they stopped over Montreal last October, the Gorillaz (with singer Yukimi Nagano) didn’t do anything of the sort… Shame, I tell you… But guess what! When they played on whatever TV show they played on in this video, they did extend it! See, and hear, for yourself!

Desilusion – Gotan Project

Tango 3.0 is by far my favourite album by the multinational trio. They don’t reinvent themselves, but they certainly take their concept to a new level here, a level that was hinted at on the second album, released in 2006. Why did I choose Desilusion? Well, because I think it’s the most apt ambassador to the rest of the album as a whole.

She’s a Fast Persuader – Jamiroquai

I’ve been a total Jamiroquai fan from the get-go, no shame in admitting that! I’m always excited when they release a new album, and the latest was no exception to the rule. Jay Kay et al. don’t reinvent the wheel here, let alone themselves, but it’s still a great Jamiroquai album, better than the last one, in any case. I wouldn’t, however, go as far as including the whole album on my list, but this little gem of a track is definitely the stand-out track for me. Pure Jamiroquai at their best!

Yotsukaido Nature is a Japanese producer who’s known as KZA as sometimes Force of Nature. This amazing little ditty is entirely based on a a loop from an obscure French single from the 70’s, Le troublant témoignage de Paul Martin, that he sped up and complemented with a drum track and TB-303 line. Nothing groundbreaking, production-wise, but it is SO efficient! Once you hear this track, it’ll be stuck in your head for days, trust me.

Godfather of Techno Juan Atkins doesn’t release stuff that often, so in and of itself, a new release by him, espcially under his Model 500 moniker, is quite a happening. In this case, however, we’re not only dealing with a happening, but also one monster of a track. Agreed, the break is so-so, but’s it’s the only blemish on this track’s face. I’ll let it speak for itself…

Definitely one of my favourite releases of 2010, Onra is a one-man-show from the mastermind of French producer Arnaud Bernard. Onra produces leftfield hip hop, or whatever you want to call it, but he does it with a flair that is unique and irresistible. I chose the title track from his 2010 album simply because my favourite track on it, My Comet, is actually from 2008… 🙂

I don’t know much about the band, other than the info I found on Zero Inch: “Belfast’s Jack Hamill started releasing ambient downbeat as RL/VL before assuming the name of Space Dimension Controller. Combining elements of electro-funk and deep techno in his tracks, Space Dimension Controller has been one of the shooting stars of 2010, performing at Barcelona’s prestigious Sónar festival and recently signing to seminal imprint R&S Records”. But don’t believe the hype and just trust me when I say that here’s a name you should memorize, because I’m predicting his ascencion is only begining. As a matter of fact, his remix of the aforementionned OFI by Model 500 is coming out in January. Now that’s somehting I can’t wait to hear!

Honourable mentions

Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!! (Lulu Rouge Feat. Abdullah S Remix) – Trentemøller || I’m not Dubstep’s best customer, but I like this one a lot, even though I’ll admit it’s got nothing very special about it. Silver

State Trooper (Trentemøller Unofficial Mix) – Bruce Springsteen || The only reason this didn’t make my list is that it did not come out in 2010, even though I only heard of it eraly in the year. Top work! Trooper

It’s a relativly short offering compared to my usual lengthy marathons, but it should be plenty of fun to dance to or chillax in a comfy couch!

Most of the tracks on here are from 2010, but I just had to throw in an old favourite of mine, Bessie, by Shaboom, which came out in 1997 on Paper Recordings. People who’ve known me for a while know that I really played this track out when it was released.

There are no Christmas songs per se on this mix, but Mike Monday’s Do Be Do, towards the end of the mix, does have a very Christmasey feeling to it and even reminds me of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time with its use of delayed Juno hits…

I hope you enjoy it and I wish y’all the best for the new year!

As usual, you can stream ittechmas or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

As always, your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting! 😉

A while ago, my friend Mike, who runs the Quebec City-based label CCCLTD, asked me for an exclusive podcast to be featured on his website. He insisted it be no longer than and hour AND that it be a Cosmic Disco mix.

I was glad and proud to oblige, although I must admit making short a Cosmic Disco mix was quite a feat for me, as I believe this musical style, which I’ve been championning for years, is beter suited to very long mixes, as one can notice by looking at the length of the mixes in my Cosmix series.

With the parameters in mind, I offered Mike to make a kind of off-Cosmix, which is why this is entitled 7.5 (there’s also a 3.5 mix in the series, which is a live set recorded at Picnik Elektronic in 2009).

The deal was that Cosmix 8 would be loosely based on Cosmix 7.5 and that it would come out as soon as the exclusivity to CCCLTD was over.

So, with that said, here it is!

As usual, you can stream itCCCLTD or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

As always, your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting! 😉